OU in Second Place at Championships

By Athletics Communications

University of Oklahoma

MARCH 16, 2006

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma Sooners are in second place after day one of the 2006 NCAA Championships. OU won seven out of its first eight matches in session one and won six more matches in session two, Thursday inside the Ford Center. Oklahoma still has all eight wrestlers alive with five in the championship bracket and the other three in the consolation bracket.

After defeating Cory Borges of Fresno State in session one, Sam Hazewinkel continued his run at a championship by defeating Luke Magnani of Iowa in session two. Hazewinkel dominated from start to finish and defeated Magnani by a fall at the 6:23 mark. Hazewinkel will face Big 12 rival and No. 10 Paul Donahoe of Nebraska Friday morning in session three.

No. 2 Teyon Ware, who struggled in session one, winning by riding time over Manuel Rivera of Minnesota, was back in regular form in session two. Ware defeated Edward Gutnik of Wisconsin by a decision of 6-1. With the win Ware extended his win streak at the NCAA Championships to seven, dating back to last season when he was crowned the 141-pound champion. Ware will square off with Alex Tsirtsis of Iowa in session three Friday Morning.

Matt Storniolo defeated Big 12 149-pound rival Robert Sanders of Nebraska in session two Thursday evening. Storniolo who is a retuning All-American defeated James Woodall of Penn State in session one and defeated Sanders by a major decision of 11-2. Storniolo will wrestle Mark Disalvo of Central Michigan in session three Friday Morning. Storniolo and Disalvo will be meeting for the second time this year. The two met earlier in the year at the National Duals. Storniolo won by a decision of 11-10.

Returning All-American Joel Flaggert kept his bid alive to repeat as an All-America by defeating Nathan Moore of Purdue in session one and Casey Phelps of Boise State in session two. Flaggert defeated Phelps by a decision of 3-2 in the second round at 197-pounds. Flaggert will face Jake Rosholt of Oklahoma State in session three Friday morning. Flaggert and Rosholt have met three previous times this season with Rosholt taking all three matches.

Jake Hager remains in the championship bracket with his win over Dustin Fox of Northwestern in session two. Hager defeated Christopher Cvitan of James Madison in session one Thursday afternoon and defeated Fox by a decision of 3-2. Hager will face Steve Mocco of Oklahoma State in session three Friday morning. This will be the fourth match between Mocco and Hager this season. Mocco has won all three of the previous meetings.

Junior Justin Dyer kept himself alive with a win over Jeremy Colbert of North Carolina State in the consolation portion of the bracket. Ryan Halsey defeated Dyer by a fall in session one at the 2:34 mark. Dyer will try to stay alive in the consolation bracket Friday when he squares off against Joseph Rovelli of Hofstra.

Will Rowe and Wes Roberts both lost in session two after winning their opening matches in session one. Ben Cherrington of Boise State defeated Rowe by a decision of 7-0. Roberts fell to No. 1 and Big 12 174-pound rival Ben Askren by a decision of 6-4. Both wrestlers will be back in action in the wrestlebacks on Friday morning.Session three begins at 10 a.m. inside the Ford Center Friday morning with quarterfinal and wrestlebacks competition.

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